The attachment of correction weights is a method for unbalance correction used primarily for the balancing of vehicle wheels. DE 10 2010 002 002 A1 discloses a fully automatic installation for the unbalance correction of vehicle wheels, in which any unbalance of the vehicle wheels is first measured in an unbalance measuring station, followed by feeding the vehicle wheels to a balancing station in which the correction weights, cut to size by an automatic cutting device on the basis of the measured values and provided with an adhesive layer, are adhesive-bonded to the vehicle wheels by means of an attachment device. To accomplish this, the attachment device includes an applicator head having two receptacles receiving two correction weights to enable these to be attached one after the other in two correction planes of the assigned vehicle wheel. To receive the correction weights, the applicator head is able to move up to the cutting device so closely that the correction elements can be loaded into the receptacles of the applicator head one after the other. As this occurs, the applicator head is rotated about a central axis so that even relatively long correction weights are uniformly inserted into their receptacles over their entire length, such that their rear surfaces rest against the applicator head.
In the known device, loading the applicator head with two correction weights is time-consuming because the correction weights are cut to length and loaded into the receptacles of the applicator head one after the other. Considering that the applicator head is unable to apply correction weights while being loaded, the loading time affects directly the cycle time for the continuous attachment of correction weights to a series of vehicle wheels.